1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to panels which are used to form garage doors wherein the various panel sections are hinged together to enable the garage door to rotate along tracks on either side of the garage door to be retracted adjacent the ceiling in order for the garage to be opened and then rotated back down so that the bottom of the entire garage door rests against the ground when the garage is closed. The present invention relates to the specific construction of the individual panels which are used to form the entire garage door.
2. Detailed Description of the Prior Art
To the best of the present inventor's knowledge, the prior art garage door panels which are related to the present invention are formed in the following way. They are known as sandwich doors which have a front skin usually made of 24 to 27 gauge steel and a rear skin also having 24 to 27 gauge steel and foam sandwiched between the two sections of steel. The foam material is expanded polystyrene E.P.S. and is usually 1⅞″ to two inches thick so that it is referred to as a two inch sandwich steel door. The length of the E.P.S. polystyrene is very important and it should be noted that it is as long as the door sections, i.e. 8 ft., 9 ft. 16 ft., 18 ft. etc. Full length solid pieces provide more strength than using multiple pieces in a section. The 2 inch sandwich steel door is the most widely used insulated door in the garage door industry. It should be noted that 1⅜″ thick steel sandwich doors are also used in the garage door industry.
A problem with the prior art garage door panels is that it is more expensive to have pre-painted steel on both the front and rear of the sandwich door assembly and when one panel is hinged to another panel, the panel hinges must necessarily be through the steel backing so that it is not visible from the outside. There is a significant need for an improved garage door panel where the cost of the manufacturing of the panel is reduced and where the unsightly hinge stile/hinge backup plate can also be concealed yet is retained in a strong manner so that it can enable one section to be rotated relative to a second section as the garage door is retracted and then returned to its position adjacent the ground.
It should be noted that currently manufactured poly/vinyl insulated doors are standard pan type. They are not insulated before assembly. They are post insulated with multiple pieces of pre-laminated E.P.S. sheet foam. This gives no strength to the door section. In addition to squeaking and loose fitting multi-piece construction, the unsightly door and hinge center support stiles are exposed.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved garage door assembly which addresses the above discussed problems.